When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna’s great aunt — and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation.

Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica’s daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they’ve longed for… or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

I’ll admit, what really drew me into this book was the rolling green hills on the cover — which aren’t even the focus of the cover. But it fantasy about this seemingly magical kingdom plus being a YA so you know there’ll be some sort of fun love interest… Well, that was enough for me. Plus, Doon sounds like Doom. And Soon. And in a Scottish accent, well, it’s just a fun word.

I was nervous about the switching of the POVs. Normally in books, I do not like this technique as most authors cannot distinguish between the two narrators. And since this was switching between Veronica and Kenna, well, two teen girl BFFs are likely to sound similar. But by chapter 10 or 13 or so, I warmed up to Kenna as a narrator. However, I HATED her exclamations. I get it, she’s supposed to be a theatre nerd. But the “Holy Hammerstein!”s and “Sweet Baby Sondheim”s were a but much for me.

There were a few other things that felt a bit over the top, or forced. Namely, some of the Scottish-ness and even other foreign-ness in the book just feel kind of stereotypical. However, that said, I do appreciate that the things that seemed out of place in Doon were actually things that could have possibly come into Doon during the last Centennial since they actually existed during that time.

I also appreciated that the girls acknowledge that Jamie, Veronica’s Laird o’ Doon love interest, was indeed acting like a jerk and not treating Veronica right. Rather than just be blinded by all the swoon-worthy stuff, she was actually conflicted about her feelings and a possible relationship. But this is YA, so yes, so continues to swoon after a dude who pushes her away.

There were some things with the ending that I wasn’t satisfied with… Just felt a little Disney-esque in the whole “you just have to believe strong enough” stuff… But. Ugh. Not going to spoil it. There were also some things that I called early on in the book — like what was revealed in the epilogue. However, that just made me wish I didn’t have to wait until September for the sequel!

It’s a story about one girl who wants to find/define her own destiny, and another who thinks finding true love would be the worse thing in the world. Add in some romance, some fit dudes in kits, and an enchanted kingdom in Scotland (who’s future hangs in the balance)… And it’s a nice mix for a story.

I received this book for free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

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